Democrat-backed candidate flips Chandler mayor’s office in Arizona

The City of Chandler in Arizona voted in their first mayoral election in eight years to elect independent candidate Matt Orlando in the race, flipping the seat.

The nonpartisan race was between Councilmember Orlando and Arizona House legislator Jeff Weninger, with Orlando pulling ahead by 17 points. The independent is backed by Legislative District 13 Democrats in Arizona.

“Today, I am honored and humbled to have been elected the Mayor of Chandler to finish the job I started 30 years ago. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to lead Chandler into our next chapter,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Orlando will be replacing Mayor Kevin Hartke (R-Ariz.), who is now running for Weninger’s seat in the Arizona House after reaching his term limit for mayor.

The air force veteran has previously served on the Chandler City Council and ran on promises to stop partisanship in the local city council and anti-data center policies due to concerns over energy usage and noise pollution.

In a debate leading up to the election hosted by The Republic, he did mention that certain data centers are “necessary to drive growth.”

The event reached a tense moment with Weninger calling out Orlando for alleged backroom dealings in the development of a local data center. This is potentially related to a Phoenix New Times article that identified Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) lobbying Chandler city council members to approve a data center. 

In addition to data centers, Orlando will have to tackle the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) by the police department and potential water cuts in the city.

Orlando has previously stated that he trusts the police to properly use ALPRs, differing from his opponent who mentioned the idea of warrants to be the technology. He has also said he wanted to focus on conservation efforts in the face of the region’s pending water cuts. 

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